THE BUZZ

June 11th, 2010

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The Cycle of Music

The cycle of life is ongoing and everlasting. In fact, everything happens in cycles. This is extremely prevalent in the music industry as well. For instance, artists today sample older tracks and beats from the music of yester-year. According to Quayshaun, music enthusiast and CEO of Que Records, the music industry cycle is going back to where it was 20 years ago.

Through his analysis, this continuous cycle goes as followed: First, the cycle starts when the independents take over the industry providing diversity through their sounds and tactics to reach the main airwaves. Once these sounds are established, the major players come and take over the independents.

Majors dominate the industry once again and over saturate the music. The cycle then breaks down and starts all over again.

Case in point, Hip-Hop. This genre started as an underground urban form of music where creativity thrived. As the years have gone by, Hip-Hop has been captured by the big media tycoons and exploited.

Now, songs are over-saturated with the same message, beat and lyrics. Because of this, there is not much creativity or diversity. However, s previously stated, what was once old will be new again and the cycle of music will prevail.

To spearhead this shift back into the original art of noise, Quayshaun aims to save the music industry with Que Records, one artist at a time.

By far, he is a great asset in this industry because he has been on the scene for 20 years. For those of you who don’t know what Hip-Hop was like back then, let me sum it up for you; It was live! It was creative! It was young, fresh and new!

In fact, Quayshaun started off in the streets of New York as an emcee back in the New Jack City era. Now as founder and CEO of Que Records, he plans to bring the art and creativity back into Hip-Hop and music of all genres.

Currently, the company has a diverse roster of clients in the R&B, Rap, and Rock categories. He credits a majority of the diversity to his label anddistribution company, EMI.

As a businessman who values strong business ethics, he decided to go with EMI based on their well-built business model. In addition, his distribution deal with EMI is worldwide so he intends on reaching an international audience.

What makes this company one of a kind is that they work with both new artists and seasoned artists. With older artists, they focus on rebranding and redeveloping their clients to succeed in their second leap back into the mainstream. For example, Hip-Hop sensation, Huey–known for his 2008 hit, “Pop, Lock and Drop It”–is set to release his sophomore album this summer.

For new artists, Quayshaun looks for talent that is a triple threat; meaning someone who can really rhyme or sing, with great personality and stage performance. Simply put, Que Records is dedicated to looking for artists that they can groom and develop into superstars to ensure longevity in their careers, equivalent to artist like Jay Z and LL Cool J.

Quayshaun’s passion for grooming and training the younger generation comes from his relationship with his family. “It’s the quality of time that you invest in something,” Quayshaun says. In fact, this is Que Records business model.

When he does business, he is very straight forward and direct, no chaser involved.

“ I like to do business in person. I want to shake hands and look you in the face. I want you to see what type of man I am.”

With this type of stewardship, I can envision Que Records becoming the next all purpose , full service, one-stop shop and go label from culture and business stand point.

About the Author

Empress Varnado

Empress Varnado is a budding Public Relations and Marketing professional who fosters a fighting spirit and a drive to succeed. She lives by the motto; “I’ll Find A Way or Make One,” in which she uses her creativity, ambition and skills to accomplish her goals.

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